Sun Tzu's The Art of War and Its Rules for Winning without Conflict

1. Positions and Opportunities > 1. Understanding Positions > 1. Position Dynamics 

Which of the following best describes your basic questions about position dynamics?

1. I need to understand how temporary positions develop or degrade over time.
   1.1.0 Position Paths

   1.1.0 Position Paths

   "Use an indirect route as your highway.
   Use the search for advantage to guide you."
   Sun Tzu's The Art of War 7:1:9

   "Use an indirect route as your highway.
   Use the search for advantage to guide you."
   Sun Tzu's The Art of War 7:1:9

   Situation: 

   All competitive positions have a trajectory. They rise and fall. They spread out and narrow. The path of strategic positions is affected both by conditions in the environment and the decisions and actions we make. Positions do not just follow paths, but they are those paths. Their past and direction are critical to understanding them. Positions can change so slowly and gradually that we cannot see those changes easily. In our everyday lives, we often think of positions as static resting places. In everyday terms, we describe a person's "position" in a static way as part of a social hierarchy or as a clearly defined role in an organization or institution. This person is a department manager. That person is a priest or a lawyer. This is not the way we think about positions when we analyze strategic environments. We always attempt to look at positions not only in terms of where they are right now, but where they have come from and where they are going.

2. I need to understand how to use the uncertainty and complexity of my position and competitive arena.
   1.2 Subobjective Positions

   1.2 Subobjective Positions

   "When you are ready, you appear incapacitated.
   When active, you pretend inactivity.
   When you are close to the enemy, you appear distant.
   When far away, you appear near."
   Sun Tzu's The Art of War 1:4:3-6

   Situation: 

   Strategic positions on competitive landscapes exist in two planes at once. They exist both in the physical universe and in our minds. We say that they are "subobjective," simultaneously subjective and objective, consisting of both facts and opinions. This dual nature of positions and their competitive landscape is essential to understanding strategic positions. We can never know the complete objective truth about any situation. We can know facts, but the meaning of facts are filtered through our opinions of what those facts mean. We have our subjective perceptions, which capture a part of that truth filtered through our mental models.